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Jan 29, 2018 AMP Up Your Mobile Website’s Speed

You’ve probably noticed the initials “AMP” display when you search Google for news on your mobile device. No, it’s not another “fake news” source. In fact, those letters represent a technology that may be useful to your business.

The letters designate a Google technology called Accelerated Mobile Pages—that is, pages built using a stripped-down version of HTML. The leaner code, and (free) automatic caching in the Google AMP Cache, can allow AMPs to load faster than conventional webpages.

Speed Matters

“Fifty-three percent of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than three seconds to load,” DoubleClick reports. Bear in mind, too, that on average roughly 60 percent of online traffic comes from mobile. AMP users report some interesting statistics. The Washington Post revealed that their AMPs load 88 percent faster than their traditional pages and that they saw a 23 percent increase in mobile search users within seven days of implementing AMP. The online magazine Slate reported an increase of 73 percent in visits per visitor.

Because AMP is open source, skilled engineers can easily adapt existing webpages to its format, while some content management systems like WordPress offer AMP plugins that can automate the process for simpler pages without much manual intervention.

Yet AMP Has Downsides, Too

Analytic support for AMP is limited at this stage, although the AMP format includes analytics components that offer some tracking out of the box. But the limitations of AMP have not deterred industry leaders like ABC and CNN from using the technology.

To achieve speed, AMPs are created using a basic JavaScript library. This precludes use of robust, industry-standard JS frameworks like Angular or React, which reduces flexibility.

Additionally, the automatic caching on Google AMP Cache also has a potential downside. For mobile users reaching your content through a Google search, your content is served from Google’s cache, not your own website, and the current presentation of an AMP page encourages visitors to return to Google search results as opposed to keeping them on your site. This means you may be ceding some influence over user behavior in exchange for fast loading of a static page.

More Questions?

Will your mobile site benefit from AMP pages? To learn more, call 212-447-1100 to set a time to speak with one of our specialists.